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In this image taken from the Voice Of Jihad website, authenticated based on its contents and other Associated Press reporting, Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is released by his Taliban captors and put on a helicopter flight out of eastern Afghanistan. (Voice Of Jihad/The Associated Press)

John Thompson has been hearing a lot of chatter — much of it charged with animosity — from fellow military veterans critical of the prisoner swap of five Taliban prisoners for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, captured under questionable circumstances in Afghanistan in 2009.

And while he has his own questions about the deal, he counsels his contacts to keep an open mind.

"I put out the caution," said Thompson, a retired sergeant major and member of the local chapter of the 101th Airborne Division Association in Centennial. "Let's wait until we get all the facts. I tell them let's be careful what we do and say."

But sentiments run strong among Colorado veterans, from vehement calls for sanctions against Bergdahl to critical views of the leave-no-man-behind rationale for action and the politics lurking behind the deal.

Rod Utech, a past president of the Colorado POW/MIA Coalition who hosts a radio program from Johnstown, says the priority should be to get Bergdahl home — then talk about circumstances surrounding his disappearance.

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"Of course, we're elated that a prisoner of war has been released," he said. "But I have to temper that with the fact that I've come to believe that this release has very little to do with Sgt. Bergdahl. Why are we negotiating for him now, if not for the convenience of the president and his wishes in the end run to close Guantanamo?"

"Left his post"

For some veterans, like Colorado Springs resident Lance Pofahl, who served five years in the Navy, it's an open-and-shut case: Bergdahl is a deserter who should have been left in the hands of the Taliban — or worse.

Pofahl figures the death penalty would be appropriate punishment, suggesting that at Bergdahl's pickup point in Afghanistan, "special forces people should've shot him on sight."

"He left his post during his watch and deserted, leaving all soldiers vulnerable to Taliban attack," he said. "That right there warrants the death penalty."

Cory Whitmer, an Aurora veteran who served three Navy deployments to Bahrain ending in 2009, has no problem with the decision to seek Bergdahl's release. But he, too, has seen enough to believe the soldier's behavior warrants consequences.

"I don't wish death upon the guy despite what he did. But at the same time, I do expect a certain level of punishment for him," he said. "I'd like for him to answer what happened that night when he took off and all the time since then."

But some veterans put the brakes on what they see as a rush to judgment.

Ed Turner III, a retired Army colonel from Centennial who served 23 years, figures Bergdahl has paid enough, after his captivity.

"Often times soldiers are put under tremendous stress while serving on foreign soil, particularly in times of war," he said in an e-mail.

"They can become frightened, disillusioned and make impetuous decisions. ... I believe he should be given a general discharge and allowed to return to his home to live out his life."

Dave Kelley, a 65-year-old Vietnam vet from Morrison, remembers conversations with his fellow soldiers — most of them little more than 19-year-old kids — about the possibility of capture.

They talked about doing whatever they could to survive, and how the imperative to "leave no man behind" would always give them hope.

He has chosen to reserve judgment on Bergdahl.

"It just seems unreal to me that the kid is not even out of the hospital yet and all these people are piling on to him," Kelley said. "I don't know if he switched sides, left his post or what. It doesn't matter. Let him get home, let him get fixed up, then pile on."

He offered his own variation on the common theme that politics — from whichever side one views the controversy — drives much of the debate.

"It's a means of just criticizing Obama," Kelley said. "A few months ago, he was criticized because he was ignoring one last POW in Afghanistan. Now that he's gotten the guy free, that's wrong. The president can't do anything right in some people's minds."

Colorado also is home to some veterans who view the controversy through a unique lens because of their own military experiences.

Leo Hrdlicka, an Air Force veteran from Littleton who served in Vietnam, notes that his brother, David, was shot down and captured in that conflict — but never came home.

He calls the idea that the U.S. military doesn't leave any man or woman behind a "blatant lie."

"It's ludicrous," he said. "We left hundreds behind in Vietnam, and they languished for years. I never did find out what happened to my brother."

Complex calculations

That said, he recognizes that complex political calculations often enter into situations like this and figures the priority should be recovering captured Americans regardless of the circumstances.

Alvin Plucker, a Navy veteran from LaSalle, also considers the transaction from a very specific point of view.

He was one of 82 prisoners held when North Korea captured the USS Pueblo in 1968.

Negotiations resulted in their release after 11 months in exchange for admissions of spying that the U.S. later withdrew. Had there been some possibility of a prisoner swap, Plucker doesn't think he would have wanted any part of it.

And recovering Bergdahl in exchange for five Taliban leaders, he says, was simply a mistake.

As for Bergdahl's fate now, Plucker sees that as a matter for the military to decide.

"If he didn't collaborate, or if he put up some resistance, he should be either not punished at all or punished lightly," Plucker said. "There was no justification in what we did, though. Every veteran I know is up in arms for exchanging murderers for him in return."

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